MPP Craitor: We can't lose the services that pharmacists provide to the community

Read the original article from Niagara This Week

Pharmacists in Niagara have a prescription and it’s one only the Ontario government can fill.

Last Friday, more than a dozen pharmacists, pharmacy employees and concerned citizens gathered outside of Niagara Falls Liberal MPP Kim Craitor’s office to thank him for his support so far in their fight against cuts in the pharmaceutical business and to encourage him to keep pushing for their side.

The Ontario government has announced cost-cutting measures in an effort to reduce the annual growth in health-care spending by half, from the current amount of six per cent to roughly three per cent.

This reduction would be achieved by reducing the price of generic drugs by more than 50 per cent, making them available for 25 per cent the cost of the original brand name drug.

When phased in over the next three years, its expected to save $500 million through the Ontario Drug Benefit program.

Deb Matthews, health minister, also stated that a reduction will be achieved through a 50 per cent reduction in professional allowances given by generic drug manufacturers to pharmacies, with complete elimination by April 2013.

The Transparent Drug System for Patients Act, which was passed by the province in 2006, states generic drugs could be priced no more than half the price of their brand-name equivalents and that generic drug companies could not offer pharmacies discounts in exchange for carrying their products.

However, it did allow for professional allowances which are to be used for patient care and to help offset the cost of health-care services.

There is more than $750 million in professional allowances paid out per year to pharmacies in Ontario, with the money being used to cover services that pharmacies offer and as contributions back to the community.

Craitor wasn’t at his office when the contingent arrived, but speaking to The Crier later in the day, he said he’s supported the pharmacists in the past and will continue to support them in the future.

“Until I started investigating what these cuts would mean to the pharmacists, I had no idea the extent of the role they play in the community,” he said. “I’ve been visiting pharmacists in Niagara Falls, Virgil and Fort Erie, trying to understand exactly what these cuts will mean to them.”

Craitor said while he firmly supports the pharmacists, he does believe that the cost of drugs need to be reduced.

“I have people coming into my office and telling me they’re spending hundreds and hundreds of dollars on prescriptions a month,” he said. “There’s got to be a way to balance this out, drugs have to be made available for a lower cost, but we can’t lose the services that pharmacists provide to the community.”

Sean Simpson is a pharmacist at Simpson’s Pharmacy in Virgil. Along with his father, Ward, and sister Lisa, the three pharmacists now operate out of two locations in Niagara-on-the-Lake. Simpson said he’s glad Craitor’s been supporting them but they need to know that support will continue.

“We need to know that he’s on our side in this,” he said. “If these cuts go through, we’re going to have start examining what services we can afford to offer and which ones we’ll have to cut.”

Gale MacKinnon has been a pharmacist for 49 years. He has been operating his pharmacy, MacKinnon Guardian Drugs, on the corner of Drummond Road and Dunn Street in Niagara Falls for 42 years. He said that he had planned to retire in a few years, but now with these cuts looming, his pharmacy won’t be very valuable.

“My retirement plan is going down dramatically,” he said.

Pharmacists aren’t the only one concerned about these potential cut. Bob Wilson, a retired firefighter and Niagara Falls resident, turned up on Friday because, he said, he’s a concerned citizen who wants to know what’s going on.

“My wife and I, Marion, are concerned with how this will cost us and affect us health wise,” he said.

The couple has been going to the same pharmacy for a number of years and rely on their pharmacist not only for their prescriptions, but for his advice as well.

“We couldn’t live without him,” said Marion. “He takes a good amount of time to speak with us and make sure we understand everything clearly, and he’s open late, working much longer hours, just so he’s always available.”

Brenda Morden, a pharmacy technician at MacKinnon Guardian Drugs said that for the first time in the 25 years as a technician, she’s concerned for her job safety.

“If there has to be layoffs or job cuts because of this, the technician will be the first one to lose their hours,” she said. “The services offered at pharmacies will be cut and then it affects the patients.”

- With files from Eddie Chau